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Rain Partier

No, this is not a re-run, The Walking Dead has captured the “best selling” issue for the second year in a row, according to The USA Today, a great paper to read if you absolutely need to know what happened last week. From Comicbook.com:

According to USA Today, The Walking Dead #115 has sold more than 350,000 copies through retail orders, which by far makes the issue the best-selling comic so far in 2013. The Walking Dead #115 kicks off a twelve issue story arc called “All Out War.” It’s also being recognized as the 10th anniversary edition of the series. The issue was published with 10 variant covers, which helped to boost sales as some collectors like to collect every variation of their favorite titles.

…Last year, the best selling comic book of the year was The Walking Dead #100, which sold more than 380,000 copies.

How sad is it that there is an entire generation of comic book readers who think that 300,000 issues of a comic sold is a big deal?

Now, we can go off on variant covers, gimmicky anniversaries, or whatever other fanboy bitchfest that will try and diminish Kirkman’s accomplishments, but there is no denying that The Walking Dead is a franchise not to be underestimated. But, even with all those qualifications, this is a creator owned book that routinely leads the monthly graphic novel sales charts and has, for the second year in a row, sold more single issues that any other comic, including the totally not falsely inflated “shortages” of a certain company’s 3D covers.

No, this is not a re-run, The Walking Dead has captured the “best selling” issue for the second year in a row, according to The USA Today, a great paper to read if you absolutely need to know what happened last week. From Comicbook.com:

According to USA Today, The Walking Dead #115 has sold more than 350,000 copies through retail orders, which by far makes the issue the best-selling comic so far in 2013. The Walking Dead #115 kicks off a twelve issue story arc called “All Out War.” It’s also being recognized as the 10th anniversary edition of the series. The issue was published with 10 variant covers, which helped to boost sales as some collectors like to collect every variation of their favorite titles.

…Last year, the best selling comic book of the year was The Walking Dead #100, which sold more than 380,000 copies.

How sad is it that there is an entire generation of comic book readers who think that 300,000 issues of a comic sold is a big deal?

Now, we can go off on variant covers, gimmicky anniversaries, or whatever other fanboy bitchfest that will try and diminish Kirkman’s accomplishments, but there is no denying that The Walking Dead is a franchise not to be underestimated. But, even with all those qualifications, this is a creator owned book that routinely leads the monthly graphic novel sales charts and has, for the second year in a row, sold more single issues that any other comic, including the totally not falsely inflated “shortages” of a certain company’s 3D covers.

Rain Partier

Eli Katz wrote:Wow, and he did without resetting The Walking Dead with a new #1 issue.

Marvel, DC ... take note.

Throw 50 covers out per issue and the collector market from the show will buy everything up?

The Walking Dead usually sells in the 70,000 range. Still incredible numbers for a creator-owned book, but let's be real here. It's not like this sells 300,000 copies every issue. Both times it had the "highest selling issue of the year" it relied on cringeworthy 90's gimmicks.

Rain Partier

Eli Katz wrote:Wow, and he did without resetting The Walking Dead with a new #1 issue.

Marvel, DC ... take note.

Throw 50 covers out per issue and the collector market from the show will buy everything up?

The Walking Dead usually sells in the 70,000 range. Still incredible numbers for a creator-owned book, but let's be real here. It's not like this sells 300,000 copies every issue. Both times it had the "highest selling issue of the year" it relied on cringeworthy 90's gimmicks.

OMCTO

Chris wrote:Throw 50 covers out per issue and the collector market from the show will buy everything up?

The Walking Dead usually sells in the 70,000 range. Still incredible numbers for a creator-owned book, but let's be real here. It's not like this sells 300,000 copies every issue. Both times it had the "highest selling issue of the year" it relied on cringeworthy 90's gimmicks.

All true. But I hate, hate, hate (probably to an irrational extent) resets in comics. The whole joy of collecting, at least for me, is to maintain an ongoing connection with much-loved characters and to follow their personal developments over time. The resets often feel like unnecessary breaks or disruptions -- an attempt, with new numbering schemes, to diminish past stories. Obviously, I understand that you don't have to interpret the resets in such a dramatic, fanboy way. But hey, I do. And that's why I don't mind other cheap, gimmicky ways to boost sales, while I rail against the "new number 1" strategy.

OMCTO

Chris wrote:Throw 50 covers out per issue and the collector market from the show will buy everything up?

The Walking Dead usually sells in the 70,000 range. Still incredible numbers for a creator-owned book, but let's be real here. It's not like this sells 300,000 copies every issue. Both times it had the "highest selling issue of the year" it relied on cringeworthy 90's gimmicks.

All true. But I hate, hate, hate (probably to an irrational extent) resets in comics. The whole joy of collecting, at least for me, is to maintain an ongoing connection with much-loved characters and to follow their personal developments over time. The resets often feel like unnecessary breaks or disruptions -- an attempt, with new numbering schemes, to diminish past stories. Obviously, I understand that you don't have to interpret the resets in such a dramatic, fanboy way. But hey, I do. And that's why I don't mind other cheap, gimmicky ways to boost sales, while I rail against the "new number 1" strategy.

Rain Partier

He gets an extra headline from the anniversary covers, but the book was already competing with the mainstream books and beating most of them on the sales charts anyway--and with trade sales, annihilating them--why shouldn't Image play the same games? Besides, lots of artists want to do these occasional WD multiple covers and they're usually better than DC's or Marvel's variants.

The issue itself was pretty boring, but in a zombie soap opera most readers won't balk at the occasional slow issue when they are focused on what's going to happen in it next.

Rain Partier

He gets an extra headline from the anniversary covers, but the book was already competing with the mainstream books and beating most of them on the sales charts anyway--and with trade sales, annihilating them--why shouldn't Image play the same games? Besides, lots of artists want to do these occasional WD multiple covers and they're usually better than DC's or Marvel's variants.

The issue itself was pretty boring, but in a zombie soap opera most readers won't balk at the occasional slow issue when they are focused on what's going to happen in it next.

Swedish Pinata of Death

Eli Katz wrote:I hate, hate, hate (probably to an irrational extent) resets in comics. The whole joy of collecting, at least for me, is to maintain an ongoing connection with much-loved characters and to follow their personal developments over time. The resets often feel like unnecessary breaks or disruptions -- an attempt, with new numbering schemes, to diminish past stories. Obviously, I understand that you don't have to interpret the resets in such a dramatic, fanboy way. But hey, I do. And that's why I don't mind other cheap, gimmicky ways to boost sales, while I rail against the "new number 1" strategy.

Well, I agree with you about the "new #1 strategy," but I don't like the gimmicky sales boosts either. To me the "new #1" is just a more extreme variant of the other methods. But I hate the resets for the same reasons you do. These incessant resets have turned almost every series into a glorified mini-series now. Captain America ran continuously for almost 3 decades... and has had 6 volumes in 17 years (that's rebooting roughly once every 3 years). It's just gotten silly now. I know they want "new readers," but they aren't doing anything ELSE besides renumbering these books to actually appeal to new readers. All they're really trying to do is grab existing readers from their competitors onto the new book. This doesn't generate more total comic sales -- it just shifts them around.

Swedish Pinata of Death

Eli Katz wrote:I hate, hate, hate (probably to an irrational extent) resets in comics. The whole joy of collecting, at least for me, is to maintain an ongoing connection with much-loved characters and to follow their personal developments over time. The resets often feel like unnecessary breaks or disruptions -- an attempt, with new numbering schemes, to diminish past stories. Obviously, I understand that you don't have to interpret the resets in such a dramatic, fanboy way. But hey, I do. And that's why I don't mind other cheap, gimmicky ways to boost sales, while I rail against the "new number 1" strategy.

Well, I agree with you about the "new #1 strategy," but I don't like the gimmicky sales boosts either. To me the "new #1" is just a more extreme variant of the other methods. But I hate the resets for the same reasons you do. These incessant resets have turned almost every series into a glorified mini-series now. Captain America ran continuously for almost 3 decades... and has had 6 volumes in 17 years (that's rebooting roughly once every 3 years). It's just gotten silly now. I know they want "new readers," but they aren't doing anything ELSE besides renumbering these books to actually appeal to new readers. All they're really trying to do is grab existing readers from their competitors onto the new book. This doesn't generate more total comic sales -- it just shifts them around.